Wilmington, NC News

Archive for October, 2011

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) – Authorities say two teenagers havebeen taken into custody in the shooting of a 15-year-old NorthCarolina student who was wounded in the neck with what appeared tobe a small-caliber bullet during a lunch period outside her highschool. Cumberland County Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler said at a newsconference Monday night that the two suspects were students at CapeFear High School. He says they are being questioned and would becharged. He says the weapon used and shell casings have beenrecovered. The sheriff also said both participated in the shooting. Butler said Catilyn Abercrombie was in stable condition aftersurgery. Cape Fear High School and a nearby middle school were lockeddown for hours before students were allowed to go home.

WILMINGTON, NC (By Jenny Callison / Greater Wilmington Business Journal) — UNC Wilmington lags behind some top-tier institutions in the state in terms of the earning potential of its graduates, but still ranks in the top 25, according to a survey published this month by PayScale.com.

As part of a comprehensive examination of schools nationwide, PayScale ranked North Carolina colleges and universities by the starting median salary and mid-career median salary of its bachelor’s degree recipients. At the top of the list was Duke University, with a starting median of $54,400 and a mid-career median of $113,000. UNC Wilmington ranked 21st, with a starting median of $35,500 and a mid-career median of $56,300.

BOILING SPRING LAKES, NC (WWAY) — Some controversial signs in Boiling Spring Lakes have some folks very upset. The hand-written political signs calling Mayor Richard White a liar have some asking if this sort of political attack should even be allowed.

Natasha Yarolin is responsible for the signs that call White a liar. She says she just wants people to know the facts.

“All I’m doing is telling the truth,” she said. “I have not slandered him in any way. I have not said one thing about him that I cannot back up with documentation.”

But some people, like Eva Hayes and her daughter Tracy Kelley, find the signs distasteful and untrue. Kelley says when she removed a sign from private property, a BSL Police officer threatened to charge her with larceny. Hayes claims her daughter did nothing wrong.

“If they’re not on your own personal property then you have a right to remove a sign that is offensive,” Hayes said.

Yarolin said, “To my knowledge, I’ve followed all the laws, and if I haven’t, I welcome them to tell me which laws I’ve broken, and I’ll abide by them.”

BSL City Manager Paul Sabiston says as long as Yarolin did not place her signs on public property or right of ways, she did not break any laws.

“Certainly there is a long history of freedom of speech in this country, and we don’t really want to get into this issue,” Sabiston said. “We’re just trying to limit our responsibilities with just political signs at the right place at the right time.”

Yarolin says she will continue to put up her signs around Boiling Spring Lakes and hopes her message about White gets across to voters.

“He’s bullied people for years now, and I’m just showing that he’s not going to bully me,” Yarolin said. “I’m going to get the truth out there, and pretty much he’s going to get a dose of his own medicine, because they’ve tried intimidating me, and I’m not going away.”

Boiling Spring Lakes Police Chief Emmett Ballree says this kind of situation with candidate signs is common during elections.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The damage in Turkey from the 7.2 magnitude earthquake is hard to stomach for those who have family and friends there. A former Wilmington restaurant owner is in Turkey right now.

Huseyin Osogul is in Turkey for his aunt’s funeral. He had no clue his trip home would include watching his homeland try to emerge from a natural disaster.

As the death toll in Turkey mounts, few can do anything but watch as the search for survivors continues.

Ozogul lives in Wilmington, but he’s visiting family in Istanbul. He learned about the quake the same way many people around the world did.

“As soon as they had an earthquake I just heard right away, because we were watching TV,” he said by phone Monday.

Istanbul is about 600 miles from where the quake struck, so Ozogul didn’t feel anything, but he feels for the survivors and the injured.

“They don’t have a house, and they don’t have a place to stay, and also it’s getting ready to snow there,” Ozogul said. “I was looking at the forecast, and it shows snow start tomorrow or something, and it’s going the whole week, and a lot of people are going to be out of a house.”

Ozogul says the quake is a big topic of conversation over there, as he’s learning the effects are far reaching.

“A taxi driver I spoke with from the Istanbul area, he says he’s trying to reach his family can’t get to them, and he got relatives there, last night I was talking to the guy and he can’t contact with anybody so far,” Ozogul said.

Ozogul is thankful his family is safe, because he knows there are so many whose loved ones are still missing and perhaps dead.

“We just feel bad, ’cause a lot of people I’ve seen are crying about it, because it’s terribly ghastly right now,” he said.